iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 15/09/2026

I am so sick of seeing this same note on every website I visit.

"Zenodo is currently experiencing slowness and intermittent outages due to heavy automated traffic from bots and AI crawlers. We are aware of the problem, and our team is focused on stabilizing the service. Thank you for your patience."

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 08/09/2026

This is probably the strangest retro colormap that I've seen.

Colormap of a Magellan-era topographic map of Venus.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 05/09/2026

I almost didn't believe this when I saw it: @CoMaps now has REVIEWS!!! The reviews are taken from Mangrove.reviews (@mangroveReviews). All open source, and no Google. It's still a work in progress, but its a nice first step!

Comaps app on an /e/OS degoogled phone. Reviews are now shown using data from https://Mangrove.reviews

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 03/07/2026

I am always happy to receive personalized marketing emails from Wiley. This one is Transforming knowledge into impact

A boiler plate marketing email by Wiley, on behalf of AGU.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 15/06/2026

I have nearly completed my transition from macOS to Linux, but I still use a single macOS machine at work. With my latest upgrade of LibreWolf, I needed to manually remove a quarantine attribute for the application from the command line. I just see these […] [Original post on solarsystem.social]

Why is LibreWolf marked as broken?

It is possible that Apple Silicon users see their recently downloaded LibreWolf flagged as broken or unsafe by the OS.

This happens because we do not notarize the macOS version of the browser: we don't have a paid Apple Developer license and we don't want to support this signing mechanism that is put behind a paywall without providing significant gains.

You can remove the quarantine attribute from the Application using this command:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/LibreWolf.app

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 14/04/2026

Trash day. Probably was my favorite design of all the Apple computers.

A row of old power Mac desktop computers, ready for the trash.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 13/03/2026

The north shore in Oahu was just repaved, and all the divider lines look like this, for many miles.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 01/02/2026

If you have been using the Android OpenWeather app because you don't like adds and tracking, you will be surprised that the latest update has an extremely obtrusive AI chat assistant.

Screenshot of the new AI chat assistant for the android OpenWeather app.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 27/01/2026

The number of abstracts submitted to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (#LPSC) this year is down by almost 50% when compared to normal years. It's hard to say what is the main cause, but big factors are Europeans who don't want to travel to the […] [Original post on solarsystem.social]

Number of abstracts submitted each year to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. (Image by Michael Aye.)

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 14/01/2026

It's hard to believe that this existed. Palazzo Braschi (1934, Italy).

The Mussolini façade, 1934. The "SI" (Italian for "yes") refers to the 1934 Italian general election, which was a simple yes-no vote on the Fascist Party list. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Braschi)

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 15/12/2025

Is Google news using Grok? How else do you go from the tragic gun death of a student at Brown University to the "Removal of Uzbekistanis from the United States"? Is this really their removal strategy???

US Embassy in Uzbekistan (.gov)
Removal of Uzbekistanis from the United States

On the Passing of Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 05/12/2025

Nature confirms what I have suspected for a long time: their obscene article processing fees are not used to hire qualified editors or copyeditors. They all but admit that this paper was not even peer reviewed !

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 17/11/2025

#LPI and #USRA are happy to announce that they will be continuing their successful censorship campaign for a second year in a row! #LPSC2026

Abstract submission criteria for the #LPSC2026 conference: All submitted abstracts must comply with Administration Executive Orders. Any non-compliant abstracts will be removed from consideration for the conference program.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 22/09/2025

✅ still good. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven (2000)

Cover art for "Lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven" by Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2000). Check out in the inside cover art here: https://www.filmsfatale.com/blog/godspeed-you-black-emperor-and-cinema

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 26/07/2025

AI prompt: "How long will it take to read Neal Stephenson's Termination shock?" Response: "The time it takes to read the book will depend on the reader's speed and engagement with the content, but given its length and complexity, it is likely to take […] [Original post on solarsystem.social]

Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock (hard cover) is 5 cm thick. How long will it take to read?

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 26/06/2025

After giving up on trying to use linux on old intel mac pros, they are now my go-to doorstop.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 24/06/2025

Should #LPI and #USRA restore all censored abstracts? Should they commit to preserving scientific freedom of speech at #LPSC? And should they commit to not censoring #LPSC2026 submissions? If the answer is yes, then sign this petition! forms.gle/G1yAxZqmDujbVDHR7

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 16/06/2025

I love AI "answers" to my questions:

AI generated answer:

Therefore, based on the available information, there is no evidence to suggest that Slack will enshittify more.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 16/06/2025

I can never tell if an AI generated search result is correct or not.

AI response to the question "Does powershell suck?"

So no, PowerShell doesn't suck—it's just different, and whether it's right for you depends on your needs and environment.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 12/06/2025

I just got this spam from #AGU/#Wiley. They are proud to say that JGR-Planets costs authors only 4070 USD for open access, and they claim that this is "lower than our competitors". I never thought of JGR-Planets as having "competitors". As a society led […] [Original post on solarsystem.social]

Dear Author,

Thank you for publishing in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

With your help, we have delivered essential research to further advance planetary science.

Let’s continue to make an impact together

Prepare to make an impact by publishing open access in a growing journal.

Our fees are $4,070 so you can enjoy the benefits of open access for less*. We’re going places and would love your next work to be part of our journey.

Publish with us again

An AGU journal publishing original research articles spanning planetary geology, geophysics, geochemistry, atmospheres, and exoplanets.

Publishing in a high-standard journal may come at a cost, but did you know your fees may be covered? You can find out if your article publication charges (APCs) are funded here.

What are you waiting for?

Prepare to submit

*Our APCs are, on average, lower than our competitors.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 05/05/2025

Why I will be boycotting meetings sponsored by the Lunar and Planetary Institute. An open letter to the LPI executive board #LPI #USRA #LPSC #BoycottLPSC #BoycottLPI #PlanetaryScience

An open letter to the Lunar and Planetary Institute executive office,

I am writing to ask that LPI provide a public statement concerning their ongoing attempt to both censor and rewrite history by removing previously published community meeting abstracts from their archives.

LPI is a trusted organization that plays an integral role in the planetary science community. They organize not only the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, but also a multitude of smaller community meetings and workshops. It thus came as quite a shock to learn that LPI has decided to remove any trace of abstracts that contain certain non-offensive keywords or that are on topics that could be related to the federal executive order attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Considering the 2025 LPSC alone, almost 100 abstracts have been removed from the program, being replaced with the text "item removed". Entire sessions have been deleted from the program, and the PDFs for the removed items are no longer accessible. In total, over 1000 LPI hosted abstracts are no longer accessible from the NASA ADS archive.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 28/04/2025

These abstracts are all indexed by NASA ADS (ui.adsabs.harvard.edu), but unfortunately, if you click on the link to the publisher's full text, the requested URL on the LPI website doesn't exist.

Example of a 2023 abstract indexed by NASA ADS.

An example of what happens when you click on the NASA ADS links for the full text.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 28/04/2025

And here is an example of an entire session that was removed:

Example of an entire session that was removed from the previously held 2025 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 28/04/2025

In response to the Trump executive orders, the Lunar and Planetary Institute (#LPI) is removing abstracts from previously held meetings that used to be archived on their website. Here is an example of one that was removed from the 2025 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (#LPSC).

Example of an abstract that was removed from the 2025 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 22/04/2025

Would you like to work with the #BepiColombo mission that is about to arrive at #Mercury? #ESA has just put out an announcement for interdisciplinary scientists. The letter of intent deadline to apply is May 20! www.cosmos.esa.int/web/bepicolombo-…

Some of the images acquired of Mercury by the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft during its fourth Mercury flyby on 4 September 2024. Many geological features are visible, including the peak ring basins Vivaldi and newly named Stoddart.

The images were captured by the onboard monitoring cameras, which provide black-and-white 1024x1024 pixel snapshots.

See the article for annotations and more detailed captions for each individual image.

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo/BepiColombo_s_best_images_yet_highlight_fourth_Mercury_flyby

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 10/04/2025

After all these years, The Onion is still funny.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 03/03/2025

Planetary Research: Open call for editors Planetary Research is a community-led #DiamondOA journal for #PlanetaryScience that will launch in January 2026. We are looking for an editor-in-chief, 5 editors and 10 associate editors. The deadline to apply is […] [Original post on solarsystem.social]

Planetary Research
A diamond open access journal for planetary science

Open call for an editor-in-chief, editors, associate editors

Planetary Research is a community-led journal that is being developed by the international planetary science community. The journal will use the diamond open-access publishing model, which means that there will be no article processing fees for authors and no subscription fees for readers. The journal, run as part of a non-profit organization, will operate with a transparent governance and will promote the work it publishes to the scientific community and the general public alike. Manuscript submissions are expected to open in January 2026.

We seek candidates for the journal's editorial board, including the editor-in-chief, editors, and associate editors. We are also seeking candidates for the journal's media and technical teams. Interested candidates should provide a CV, a publication list, and a short letter motivating their interest in the position to the chair of the search committee (mark.wieczorek@cnrs.fr) before July 1, 2025. No prior experience is required. Additional information about the journal can be found on our website https://planetary-research-journal.online.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 12/02/2025

The new diamond open access journal Advances in Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry is now open for submissions! #PlanetaryScience #AGC #DiamondOA

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 21/01/2025

The new journal Advances in Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry is now open for submissions! #AGC is diamond open access journal, which means that there are no article processing fees for authors, and no subscription fees for readers. journals.uu.se/AGC #DiamondOA #PlanetaryScience

Advances in Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry is a community-led diamond open access journal that aims to publish innovative and globally relevant articles in Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry. Regional studies put in the context of a wider research question will also be considered.

Articles published in Advances in Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry are both free to read and free to publish. Authors retain all copyrights of the published material under CC BY 4.0 licence.

We welcome all contributions that use geochemical data and models to study chemical, physical and biological processes on Earth and other planetary bodies.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 16/01/2025

And here's another poster for #LPSC2025, this one for Mattermost.

Sick of the slack free plan?

Migrate to Mattermost.

We will create teams for all early career groups and community run projects. Other international projects will be evaluated on a case by base basis.

mattermost.solarsystem.social
Mattermost for planetary science

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 16/01/2025

Making some posters for the upcoming #LPSC2025 conference.

Sick of X, and other corporate social media platforms?

Migrate to Mastodon

solarsystem.social - Mastoton for planetary science

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 06/01/2025

The planetary science community is creating a diamond open access journal that will be free to access without a subscription and that won’t charge authors article processing fees. Following a community vote, we now have a name! Planetary Research #DiamondOA #PlanetaryScience

This is a picture of a diamond. From wikipedia:

The term "diamond open access" was coined in 2012 by Marie Farge ... The reference to "diamond" was a hyperbolic pun on the "gold" metaphor that aims to suggest that non-commercial/free model were ultimately the best: "I have proposed to call this third way 'Diamond OA' by outbidding the 'Gold OA' terminology chosen by the publishers."

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 17/12/2024

The crust-mantle interface was detected on the #Moon using seismic data from the Apollo surface experiments package in the early 1970s. Later in 2021, the #InSight mission detected the crust-mantle interface on #Mars.

The Apollo 16 seismometer on the surface of the Moon, along with the central station and radioactive power source that relayed the data back to Earth.

The InSight seismometer on the surface of Mars. The seismometer is covered by a a white domical wind and thermal shield that helps to reduce ambient seismic noise.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 17/12/2024

Mural of the Croatian scientist Andrija Mohorovičić in the city of #Osijek where he once taught. He is best known for his discovery of the crust-mantle interface using seismic data from a 1909 earthquake. This interface is now known as the Moho, as no one can pronounce or properly spell his name.

A mural of the Croatian scientist Andrija Mohorovičić next to the central market in the city of Osijek, along with a depiction of the layering within the Earth.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 12/12/2024

And yes, I did click on "learn more", but I got this weird message about cookies. I don't have time for this crap.

Access options: Cookies blocked. We need cookies to authenticate your user account. Please make sure cookies are enabled in your browser. For detailed instructions, please visit this support page or contact us at support@papersapp.com for more information.

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 12/12/2024

Just another paywall from #Nature. But, what does "RENT THIS ARTICLE" mean? Has that always been an option? #DiamondOA

A paywall on the article "Who should pay for open-access publishing? APC alternatives emerge" doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03506-4

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 10/12/2024

If you are a planetary scientist who is part of a #Slack community using the free plan, consider migrating your team to #Mattermost on the Solar System Social #PlanetaryScience server. Slack will start deleting your content that is older than 1 year starting January 28, 2025!

Solar System Social offers free, privacy respecting services to the planetary science community. We run a Mastodon instance and a Mattermost server, and we will soon have a Peertube video server!

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Mark Wieczorek @mrak.solarsystem.social · 24/04/2023

Now that I have a new home on solarsystem.social, here's a new #introduction! I am a #planetary scientist working at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (#IPGP) in France. My research uses the #gravity field, #topography, and #MagneticField of the […] [Original post on solarsystem.social]

The #Nebra sky disk. This disk is about 30 cm in diameter and has been dated to the early bronze age at about 1800-1600 BCE. It represents the first depiction of the cosmos, and may represent a rudimentary calendar for predicting the solstices.

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